Left 4 Dead 2 Gameplay Video Bonanza

27
With Left 4 Dead 2 currently on display at the San Diego Comic-Con, a wealth of new footage from Valve's cooperative zombie shooter sequel has flooded the internet.

Numerous pieces of new footage can be found below, with the various videos ofering a look at the new Swamp Fever campaign, several new weapons, and another glimpse of the New Orleans-set Parish campaign, first revealed at E3..

Left 4 Dead 2 is slated to hit PC and Xbox 360 on November 17. Those attending the San Diego Comic-Con this week can play the Xbox 360 version at the EA Gaming Lounge in the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter Hotel on 401 K. Street.

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 23, 2009 8:22 AM

    the more I see, the more I think it is lame that valve made this an all-out sequel instead of an expansion for l4d or free content (like they've been promising forever). Oh well

    • reply
      July 23, 2009 8:28 AM

      Owners of L4D 1, should be able to purchase 2 for half the price. I could justify it then....

      • reply
        July 23, 2009 8:56 AM

        Owners of L4D1 should not buy L4D2 at all if they are unhappy with the first product and maybe should have waited before they bought L4D1 in the first place and checked some reviews and user reviews before buying sense they seem to be so unhappy and feel so ripped off.

        • reply
          July 23, 2009 8:59 AM

          That is exactly why the rage is LOL worthy.

    • reply
      July 23, 2009 8:33 AM

      The more I read and see, the more justified I feel their decision was. Their new design ideas are impossible to retro fit onto the current l4d campaigns.

      • reply
        July 23, 2009 8:40 AM

        They could add the new special infected (or variants of them), improved zombie dismemberment, and the ability for custom campaigns to make use of the new crescendo and finale types as well as the AI director improvements. If they don't do this, then they fail to support L4D1 the way they claim they want it to be supported. If they DO do this, then L4D looks less like a real sequel and more like a parallel game launch title, best served by making it an optional standalone expansion (retailing for ~$40).

        Many of the new special infected ideas are things that fix specific gameplay issues that have cropped up in L4D1 since the game was first released last year. If Valve doesn't put these L4D2 infected into L4D1 they had better come up with new ways of fixing those problems.

        Either way it needs some new campaigns or they're not living up to their promises for L4D1's post-launch content.

        • reply
          July 23, 2009 8:50 AM

          I agree on those points. My guess is that Valve will add those two or three months after L4D2 retails.

      • reply
        July 23, 2009 8:53 AM

        What ideas would those be specifically? Not trying to be a dick but I haven't seen anything new that couldn't be tacked onto L4D1 - then again I'm not a game developer.

        • reply
          July 23, 2009 8:55 AM

          That is painfully obvious.

          • reply
            July 23, 2009 12:24 PM

            Well spell it out for us Professor... or are you just trolling someone with a legit question?

            I AM a programmer and I don't see any reason why they couldn't have made an expansion pack, other than "we didn't want to". They've said it plain as day in interviews: we made L4D1, we thought it could be a lot better, so we decided to start working on L4D2 the week after L4D1 shipped.

            But you, you must be Will Wright in disguise on shack... please enlighten us. Or just STFU.

        • reply
          July 23, 2009 9:07 AM

          You're right. I highly doubt that there's anything in L4D2 that couldn't have been in L4D1. Valve wasn't stupid when they made the Source engine, and planned for it to be customizable, tweaked and expanded upon. It's certainly the easier route to go to just release a sequel and definitely smarter financially (for them) as most people don't seem to care or mind to continue shelling out the cash.

        • reply
          July 23, 2009 9:47 AM

          The most dramatic change is Valve's solution to the shiva corner camping (which is the biggest problem imo). Crescendo events now force the player be mobile. You have to run and gun across a section of the level while the zombies pour in from all sides to reach X before "it's too late." This isn't a tweak with code that you can update, the campaigns have to be designed around it from the get go. Every L4D 1 event has you waiting for a door to open or an elevator or a crane to lower.

          The new levels are also designed with areas that allow the Director AI to shape paths out of the environment.

          I'm a mapper so those solutions make sense to me. The changes to the AI system I am clueless about. As far as I know Valve hasn't said one way or the other if they are going to upgrade L4D with them, but you can be certain it's not a copy/paste job. That in addition to adding the new uncommon infected and you're looking at play testing and balancing for the geometry of the old maps which would involve changing one or both.

          I wouldn't expect AI changes before L4D2 ships. Just a gut feeling.



          • reply
            July 23, 2009 10:00 AM

            Took the words right out of my mouth, well said.

Hello, Meet Lola